Rideshare Organized Protest

Legislative battles have been common for Uber and Lyft since the ridesharing companies launched in Chicago -- and for the most part they've come out winning.

In 2014, former governor Pat Quinn vetoed a bill so-called “anti-ridesharing” that would have placed added restrictions on Uber and Lyft, which resulted in Uber expanding its Chicago headquarters and bringing hundreds of jobs to the regional office. The ridesharing companies also won the battle for pickups at O'Hare and Midway airports last year, which the city had long protected as an area exclusively for taxis.

Uber and Lyft now again find themselves battling lawmakers from Chicago after Alderman Anthony Beale's (9th) proposal that requires all rideshare drivers to get a chauffeur’s license.

The proposed ridesharing ordinance is moving its way through the City Council. While taxi drivers say the ordinance would help level the playing field, rideshare employees are not happy about it.

The ordinance proposed by Beale would require all ridesharedrivers to get a chauffeurs license, pass a city background check and be finger printed. 

The proposed ordinance would "mark the end of ridesharing in Chicago," Uber stated in a blog post.

"The Alderman claims these changes are needed to level the playing field with taxi," Uber continued. "Everyone agrees that they are over-regulated. But the answer is to introduce new common-sense rules for taxis, NOT to impose the same bureaucratic regulations on ridesharing apps like Uber."

Beale wants to "level the playing field" for taxi companies, he told Chicagoist, and require all drivers, even those who work part time, to get a $500 chauffeur's license, and submit to city background checks and fingerprints.

Uber disagrees and argues that instead of increasing regulations on ridesharing, the city should reduce the regulations the taxi industry faces. They say that requiring drivers to pay for a chauffeur’s license would lower down the number of people who could drive for Uber, particularly in Chicago's low-income neighborhoods; Uber says 54% of uberX transsport occur in communities that are underserved by public transportation and taxis, and 20% of active uberX drivers live on the city’s south and west sides.

“This would affect thousands of local drivers who depends on the app to earn money on their own time and millions of riders who rely on Uber,” Marco McCottry, Uber Illinois General Manager, said in a statement. “They should look to remove barriers to economic opportunity and transportation access - not construct them to make life harder for working Chicagoans.”

Cab drivers remain frustrated on the point that they face more regulation than their rideshare counterparts. “We’re getting treated unfairly right now,” said taxi driver Bennie Traylor. “We don’t want Uber removed; we just want a fair system, like the rates. And we have more regulation. That’s not fair.”

Still, both rideshare companies plan to continue fighting the proposed regulations.

The ordinance has not yet been voted on by the City Council.